BY
Tom Parry

Hurtigruten to add third hybrid-powered expedition ship

Hurtigruten has revealed plans to build a third hybrid-powered expedition ship.

The adventure travel brand announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Norway’s Kleven Verft AS for the construction of the 530-guest vessel – due to be delivered in Q2 of 2021.

The new ship’s design, construction, engineering and technology will be based on Hurtigruten’s two next-generation ships currently under construction, MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen.

Hurtigruten said the ship would be “built for some of the most extreme conditions on the planet”, with a specially designed, ice-strengthened hull.

It will also feature “substantially larger” battery packs than its sister ships to make expedition voyages “even more sustainable”.

The Hurtigruten/Kleven agreement is subject to certain contingencies, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019 and takes the company’s expedition fleet to 17 custom-built vessels.

Daniel Skjeldam, Hurtigruten chief executive, said: “We are thrilled to introduce yet another revolutionary hybrid powered expedition ship. This groundbreaking vessel will take our guests to some of the most spectacular areas of our planet, in a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly way than ever seen before.

“These are greener, more advanced cruise ships than the world has ever seen – and ships that will raise standards for the whole industry to follow, as we enter a new era of expedition cruising driven by sustainability.”

Hurtigruten will launch the world’s first hybrid battery powered cruise ship, MS Roald Amundsen, in May 2019 followed by the MS Fridtjof Nansen.